OMD Digital has knocked back the opportunity to work with Procter & Gamble after winning part of the FMCG giant’s digital media business.

P&G launched a review of its digital media strategy in June, with the business subsequently being split between Starcom IP and OMD Digital.

However, OMD has taken the unusual step of declining to work with P&G. In a statement it said: “P&G recently reviewed its digital media arrangements and invited OMD Digital to take part in the process. The quality of our proposal led them to take the 10 most digitally [active] brands in their portfolio from the incumbent Starcom and ask us to manage them. However, we couldn’t agree on the financial terms of this potential collaboration and therefore OMD Digital has decided to decline the opportunity to work with P&G.”

The decision means that Starcom will now be handling all of P&G’s digital media account for brands such as Olay, Max Factor, Pantene, Pampers and Head & Shoulders.

Rayan Karaky, general manager of digital operations at Publicis Groupe Media, under which Starcom IP falls, said: “P&G had awarded us the majority of the business and now they have decided to consolidate all the business with us. P&G has a rigorous pitch process and they always partner with the best agency.”

OMD, Starcom, Mediacom and Technowireless were initially invited to pitch for the business, which involved taking responsibility for P&G’s digital media account for the Arabian Peninsula. It was the first time that P&G had sought an agency purely dedicated to digital media planning and buying.

P&G, whose regional HQ is in Jebel Ali, confirmed that the business would now be handled solely by Starcom but declined to comment any further.